Left-wing, anti-cuts and all round commie candidates have completed a palace coup, winning a clean sweep of sabbatical positions in the UCL Union elections. Red Baron Michael Chessum said: “Anyone who thought that left-wing politics was a ‘tiny minority” of students has been roundly defeated tonight.”
Bloc party
In fact, some of the results were very close — and none more so than the Welfare and International contest where Sam Page was pipped by Candy Ashmore Harris and her razor-thin margin of 13. Left wing candidates were also helped by a change in UCLU elections regulations, which allowed ‘slate’ campaigning for the first time. This meant that the left-wing cabal was able o essentially run as one big team, telling students who to vote for across the board. If more than a dozen different candidates (many part-time winners were also in the gang) all provide cross-support, it can be difficult for outsiders to gain a foothold. Candidates such as David Bruce Moris and Ava Lloyd were certainly not underdogs going into voting, and yet were soundly thrashed by their left-wing competitors - a lack of coordination certainly didn’t help.
Isoc it to me
The second great boon for the Left was the continued support of UCLU Islamic Society, who may at first seem unlikely bedfellows, but they share clear common interests. Both groups support “Stop the War™ campaigns which combine anti- imperialism and anti-Islamophobia, but on a student level both are virulently anti-Israeli and staunchly oppose anti-terror legislation. Isoc are not only a solid block vote, but also forcefully and energetically campaign for their agreed candidates armed with iPads and zeal. In the wake of non-startling revelations such as the G7/10, The Cheese Grater wonders whether The Buzz glossed over where the real power lies. The lack of competition in races between Left candidates and those from Isoc has even led to unsubstantiated allegations of electioneering between the two factions.
The potential problem is a climate in which it is impossible to win an election without the backing of the right people, dragging the young idealists of the student political world into the grimy cave of Realpolitik. Isoc have carved out a clear niche as kingmaker.
You are the RON and only
Despite the left's slate of victories, this election saw the first contested victory for RON (Re-Open Nominations) in years. Incumbent LGBT Officer Stef Newton, who was running for re-election, lost by two votes to a RON campaign which appeared on the final night of campaign week, run by five members of the current LGBT Committee. Newton claims this to have been a personal rather than political attack while LGBT Forum Media Officer Kristoff Wright, who campaigned against Newton, said: “It wasn’t in any way a personal attack against Stef, we just didn’t want a repeat of this year. It's time for a fresh start with a new leader with anew take on things. It was claimed that we were trying to sabotage the Forum and the elections in general, which is bull There just weren’t any suitable candidates running.”'
Newton responded: “I was upset because I feel that the LGBT voice was shadowed by a number of bigots who lied about self-defining in order to influence the election results. I was upset about all the untruthful things being posted about me at first as well but when people start lying about you on the internet because they can’t challenge you on stuff you did do, you know you're doing something right.” Women’s Officer 2010-11 Laura Terry is rumoured to be contesting the position.